JESUS, OUR JUSTIFICATION
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. What Jesus Did
a) There are three words that we can easily commit to memory: perfection, punishment, price; which outline the wonderful things that Jesus did by dying on the cross. These are necessary things which we could not possibly have done for ourselves.
2. Jesus, Our Justification
a) There can be only one reasonable answer to the question just asked. Christ must have been punished for the sins of someone else, and punished in their stead. That is why the gospel says, "The chastening for our well being fell upon him" (Isaiah 53:5) and "Christ suffered for you... the just for the unjust" (1 Peter 2:21, 3:18).
b) The high priest himself had prophesied, "It is better for one to die... than all to perish" (John 11:50-51).
c) This punishment of the just for the unjust, is marvelous: Jesus, being perfect, was able to be "freed from the agony of death" (Acts 2:24) yet his agony for a season could still replace everyone else's agony for eternity!
d) This acceptance of Christ's punishment on the cross as a substitute for our own eternal punishment, is called "justification". Christ is our "justification, sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). Justification (or being counted as righteous) is ours by virtue of the vicarious suffering which Jesus Christ endured on the cross.
The End ...
1. What Jesus Dida) There are three words that we can easily commit to memory: perfection, punishment, price; which outline the wonderful things that Jesus did by dying on the cross. These are necessary things which we could not possibly have done for ourselves.
2. Jesus, Our Justification
a) There can be only one reasonable answer to the question just asked. Christ must have been punished for the sins of someone else, and punished in their stead. That is why the gospel says, "The chastening for our well being fell upon him" (Isaiah 53:5) and "Christ suffered for you... the just for the unjust" (1 Peter 2:21, 3:18).
b) The high priest himself had prophesied, "It is better for one to die... than all to perish" (John 11:50-51).
c) This punishment of the just for the unjust, is marvelous: Jesus, being perfect, was able to be "freed from the agony of death" (Acts 2:24) yet his agony for a season could still replace everyone else's agony for eternity!
d) This acceptance of Christ's punishment on the cross as a substitute for our own eternal punishment, is called "justification". Christ is our "justification, sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). Justification (or being counted as righteous) is ours by virtue of the vicarious suffering which Jesus Christ endured on the cross.
Comments
Post a Comment